BACKGROUND: Nowadays, the interest in functional food has dramatically increased. Herbal plants and functional foods have health-enhancing effects on consumers due to their medicinal, antioxidant, and nutritional properties. Probiotics are one of the most emerging and popular functional food products. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to assess the effect of irradiated and non-irradiated saffron petal extract on the viability of Lacticaseibacillus paracasei (M4PM99) in probiotic yogurt.METHODS The ethanolic extract of irradiated saffron petals with a 10 KGy dose of gamma ray at concentrations of 25, 50, and 75 mg/mL and non-irradiated extract at the same concentrations were used and their effect on the viability of Lacticaseibacilus paracasei and their antioxidant and physicochemical properties in set yogurt were studied. Probiotic survival, pH, acidity, content of total phenolic compounds, DPPH inhibition percentage, and sensory properties on days 0, 7, 14, and 21 were assessed.RESULTS: Both irradiated and non-irradiated saffron extracts significantly increased the viability of probiotic bacteria compared to the control sample (P<0.05). The addition of extracts was effective in increasing acidity and decreasing pH compared to the control (P<0.05). With the increase in the amount of extract, the percentage of DPPH inhibition and phenolic compounds significantly increased in the irradiated samples (P<0.05). The effect of storage time was also significant on these indicators, such that the antioxidant properties and phenolic compounds increased until the 14th day and then decreased (P<0.05). In the sensory evaluation, in terms of taste, odor, and color, the lowest score was related to the sample containing 0.75% extract. No significant difference was observed in other concentrations compared to the control sample.CONCLUSIONS: Saffron petal extract has a positive effect on the viability of probiotics during storage. Gamma irradiation has a significant effect on the amount of total phenolic compounds and the antioxidant activity of saffron petal extract. It can be used as a natural antioxidant in dairy products.

BACKGROUND: The use of additives, such as medicinal plants, may result in improved digestion and fermentation and consequently, animal production. OBJECTIVES: The present experiment was conducted to determine the most appropriate amount of Ziziphora cliniopodiodes plant to be utilized in lamb diet and its effect on digestibility, fermentation, growth performance, blood, and quality of carcass and meat. METHODS: Different amounts of Ziziphora cliniopodiodes (0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1 %) were added to diet of lambs. The best diet was selected based on gas production method and fed to male lambs with an average weight of 41 ± 2 kg in a completely randomized design with three treatments and six replications. The selected diets for feeding lambs included: control diet (Ziziphora cliniopodiodes) and control diet supplemented with 0.2 or 0.4 % Ziziphora cliniopodiodes. Feed intake, digestibility of nutrients, fattening performance, blood and rumen fermentation parameters, protozoan population, and certain meat quality indexes were measured. At the end of the experiment, the carcass traits were studied. RESULTS: The obtained results herein revealed that the potential of gas production, partitioning factor, truly degradable organic matter, dry matter intake, apparent digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, blood urea nitrogen, and protozoa population were not affected by the experimental diets. There was a significant difference among the experimental diets for daily weight gain, the total weight gain of lambs, and microbial biomass production. The highest records belonged to the diet containing 0.2 % Ziziphora cliniopodiodes. Antioxidant characteristics, colorimetric indices, and pH of meat were not affected by the applied treatments. CONCLUSIONS: In general, according to livestock experiments, the best amount of Ziziphora cliniopodiodes to be employed was 0.2 %, which improved certain fermentative and performance traits.

Today, the use of components obtained from plant extracts is rapidly increasing, especially in the pharmaceutical industry. Eight different plants, which are used as winter tea and are frequently consumed among herbal teas, were selected in the study. The aim of study was to investigate the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of teas obtained from medicinal and aromatic plants such as Linden, Ginger, Cinnamon, Sage, Daisy, Turmeric, Clove and Rosehip. Five different pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) were selected from common disease-causing pathogens. A total of 21 combinations were made for each plant. Disc diffusion and Minimum inhibition concentration methods were used to determine antimicrobial activity. DPPH (2,2 Difenil-1Pikrohidrozil) method was used to determine antioxidant activity. The amount of total phenolic and tannins contents contained of herbal teas were also determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (FCR) method.The highest value among the antimicrobial activities of herbal teas (triple combination) was measured against E. faecalis (25.11 mm). The herbal combination with the highest value measured was found in the ginger+cinnamon+clove group. The highest antioxidant value was measured in this mixture (36.8 mg/mL).Because some plants have more bioavailability, these benefits can be suppressed in a mixture. When determining these mixtures, the consumption will be more beneficial for public health, given the recommendations of researchers and experts.

This study was planned to determine the effect of certain vitamin applications on antioxidant and oxidant parameters in the osteoblast cell line exposed to sodium fluoride in vitro and to evaluate the protective role of certain vitamins against possible toxic effects of fluoride. Cells were replicated in vitro conditions with regular passaging 2-3 times weekly. MTF viability test was used to determine IC50 of NaF (5000μM) and proliferative doses of vitamins (Vitamin A: 10μM, Vitamin D: 10μM, Vitamin E: 60μM, Vitamin C: 100μM) for hFOB 1.19 cells. Cells were sown in flasks as so to be 106. The study groups were identified as control, NaF, vitamins and NaF+vitamins. After incubation for 24 hours, cells treated with trypsin were prepared by freeze/thaw method and MTT viability test, TAS, SOD, GSH, CAT, TOS and MDA analyzes were performed on these samples.In the hFOB 1.19 cell line, TAS levels decreased significantly in the NaF group (p≤0.05), but were close to the control group in NaF+vitamin groups with the exception of vitamin C. However, there was no difference between the groups in terms of GSH level and CAT and SOD activities when the control and NaF groups were compared. It was observed that TOS level increased significantly in the NaF group (p<0.05), decreased in the NaF+vitamin groups and were lower in the NaF+vitamin C and E groups than the control group (p <0.05). While OSI was the highest in the NaF group, no significant difference in MDA level was observed compared with the control group.Conclusion: As a result, it was found that NaF administration in the osteoblast cell line increased oxidative stress and decreased following vitamin application. It was found that the effect of NaF administration in the osteoblast cell line on cell viability was consistent with the oxidative stability and that the vitamin application conformably changed cell viability and oxidative balance.